‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ writer thinks Thandie Newton was “too good” for her role

With Val being an inherently sacrificial character, even co-writer Jonathan Kasdan thought Newton was too good of a performer to have to settle for such little screen time.

“In retrospect, Thandie Newton may have actually been too good and too interesting as Val,” the writer shared on Twitter. “It was always in the design of the story that Beckett would lose his trusted crew members during the Conveyex Job-gone-wrong and be forced to rely on newbies, Han and Chewie, and this would also open the door for Lando, Qi’ra, and L3 to join the crew, but Thandie is so compelling to watch that the death of her character feels a little like a cheat. It’s an odd and unexpected problem that comes with working with such amazing, compelling actors in the Star Wars universe. You just want more of them.”